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there are also Micropolitan areas that are metros that consist of fewer than 50,000 people.

Oh Buckeye there is no reason to post in this thread any longer as you seem to want to boost Cincinnati at the expense of Cleveland. I could go on for days about why I think Cleveland is better than Cincinnati and always will be, or why it is unfair that Akron is not part of the Cleveland MSA even though people leaving Cuyahoga are moving to portage and Summit Counties. IMO Cleveland has it all over Cincy, layout, rail, amenities, Coastal location, and bigger name recognition. There's no need to continue.

There you go again with more inflammatory, unfactual statements! As I previously pointed out, Cuyahoga County lost 79,737 residents (5.7% of its population) from 2000-2006. Apparently, not many of them went to Summit and Portage counties, unless a lot of other people are moving out of those counties. Over the same period, Summit County only gained 3,032 residents and Portage County only gained 2,951 residents. Ohio QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau Why don't you do a little research instead of spouting off misinformation?

You are the one who seems to want to boost Cleveland at the expense of Cincinnati, saying everything is so much better in Cleveland. That's your opinion, but what does it have to do with the fact that the Cincy MSA will surpass the Cleveland MSA in population this year, which is what this thread was about? At any rate, as I pointed out, the most recent rankings by Cities Ranked & Rated obviously disagree with you, and I'm sure that their approach is much more factual and comprehensive than yours. Apparently, looking at the growth rates of the metros, there are more people who agree that Cincy is the better place to live.

I agree with OHBuckeye - this seemed like a simple statement that the population of Cincinnati based on the current MSA is likely to soon pass the current Cleveland MSA. The Cincinnati paper actually reported it was likely to occur in June of this year since the estimates are 9 months behind.

I am glad there are Clevelanders that love their city and want to support it, but it seems like instead of responding to the statement it turned into subjective arguments about why Cleveland is bigger and better. I was trying to avoid statements of why I think Cincinnati is better than Cleveland in response. I actually do not know Cleveland well enough to give a full response, and that was not the point of the thread. Generally speaking, no subjective arguments are going to change someone's mind, and I actually wish all of Ohio was growing more.

It also seems like the 2010 census might change the metros or CSA's or whatever they call them then, but I suspect they will then be Cleveland-Akron-Canton and Cincinnati-Dayton-Springfield which will also be very close in population. Who knows? Today we have the current MSA's.

OHBuckeye Ohio only gained 10,000 people in 2006,maybe people from other parts of the state moved to Cincinnati but I read in a newspaper about how many people each state gained in 2006 and Ohio was one of the lowest,Im I didn't mean how many it has gained since 2000.The Indians are better than the Reds and that is a true fact.

Amen about the baseball teams. I'm glad that our minor league (Dayton Dragons) have been doing better this year. The thing with Ohio's population distribution is that its spreading out from the city cores. People are moving from Hamilton to Warren County, Montgomery to Greene County, Cuyahoga to Summit County, and Franklin to Delaware County. I'm not making any scientific or factual statements here. I'm just basing my opinion off of what people are saying here and statistics and stories in the local papers.

OHBuckeye Ohio only gained 10,000 people in 2006,maybe people from other parts of the state moved to Cincinnati but I read in a newspaper about how many people each state gained in 2006 and Ohio was one of the lowest,Im I didn't mean how many it has gained since 2000.The Indians are better than the Reds and that is a true fact.

As for the Reds vs. the Indians, there's little doubt that the Indians are better this year, although the two teams did split the 6 games they played against each other (each won 2 out of 3 at home). If you take a longer term view, however, there's no doubt that the Reds are better. The Reds have won 3 World Series in my lifetime; the Indians haven't won any. As for the Bengals vs. the Browns, the Bengals are definitely better now; also, they've been in two Super Bowls whereas the Browns have never been in one. Who-Dey!

P.S. Even though I'm not a big NBA fan, I'm rooting for the Cavs to pull off the near impossible by coming back and taking the series from the Spurs...Cleveland deserves a major championship after going 43 years without one. It's 60-59 Spurs with 8 minutes to go in the game as I'm writing this.

The thing with Ohio's population distribution is that its spreading out from the city cores. People are moving from Hamilton to Warren County, Montgomery to Greene County, Cuyahoga to Summit County, and Franklin to Delaware County. I'm not making any scientific or factual statements here. I'm just basing my opinion off of what people are saying here and statistics and stories in the local papers.

Looking at the Census Bureau's estimates, it appears that not too many are moving from Cuyahoga to Summit or Portage, which would seem to support the Census Bureau's classification of Akron as a separate MSA and Cleveland and Akron together as a CSA. Here are the 2000-2006 population change figures for the counties in the Cleveland-Akron CSA...

So, the three counties that are part of the Cleveland-Akron CSA but not part of the Cleveland MSA (Summit, Portage, Ashtabula) have the weakest growth in the region (excluding Cuyahoga County). Again, that seems to suggest to me that the Census Bureau's definition of the MSA is appropriate.

I apologize if I have belittled Cincy. My original post was just explaining why Cleveland and Akron have a stronger bond than Dayton and Cincinnati.

I believe about 5k moved from the Cleveland MSA to Akron, the thing there is about 5K from Akron moved to the Cleveland MSA so they cancel each other out.
My point in talking about people moving to portage and Summit was how the current MSA definitions don't paint an accurate picture on Cleveland's size. I wasn't making any excuses as to the shrinking population. The population of Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo are all shrinking because of the impact of manufacturing and the car companies. Once these areas can get a balanced, dynamic economy, which Pittsburgh is closest to, they can become prosperous again and begin to grow again.

As someone who grew up in Cleveland and lived there until 2000, I have to say that it never really seemed that Cleveland and Akron had close enough ties to be in the same MSA. I realize that they're part of the same media market (although Akron has its own major daily newspaper), but otherwise, the ties between them just never seemed all that strong. I also realize that 2000 was a somewhat long time ago, but I have numerous friends and family members in the Cleveland area, and I visit often. I can only speak for those who I know there, but most of them, like myself, tend to think of the Akron-Canton area as a separate metro area. What's ironic about that is that Akron and Canton have separate MSA's and are not considered part of the same area by the Census Bureau. Still, IMHO, Akron and Canton seem to have stronger ties than Akron and Cleveland (for example, they even have their own airport: Akron-Canton Regional). If it were up to me, Akron and Canton would be combined into a single MSA, which would be part of the Cleveland CSA (currently, Canton is not part of the Cleveland CSA, but if I'm not mistaken, it was considered to be part of it for a time before 2000?).

This is just anecdotal evidence, but regarding migration from the Cleveland area to the Akron area, I personally have never known anybody to make that move (excluding some people who moved to Akron or Kent to attend UA or KSU). I've known quite a few people who moved out of Cleveland and/or Cuyahoga County, but the most common destinations of those who left the county but stayed in NE Ohio were Medina County, Lorain County and Lake County. It seems that the migration figures between Cuyahoga and Summit/Portage are not that high, and I wonder how many of those who are included in those figures are UA and KSU students, most of whom tended to return to the Cleveland area after finishing school when I lived in Cleveland. IMHO, the only part of Summit County that seems to have strong ties to Cleveland is the far northern part of the county (including such places as Twinsburg, Hudson and Macedonia).

Regarding Cincy (where I lived for 7 years before recently relocating to Columbus for a job - I wasn't looking to move but the job offer was too good to turn down) and Dayton, I definitely think that they should not be combined into the same MSA, but I do think that they should be combined into a CSA in 2010 given how close their suburbs are to meeting each other.

To summarize, if it were up to this lifelong Ohioan, the Cleveland and Cincy MSA's would remain as they are, the current Akron and Canton MSA's would be combined into a single MSA, the Cleveland and Akron-Canton MSA's would form the Cleveland-Akron-Canton CSA, and the Cincy and Dayton MSA's would form the Cincy-Dayton CSA. Regarding Springfield, I'm not sure if I would include it in a Cincy-Dayton CSA. Springfield used to be part of the Dayton MSA, but the Census Bureau decided to make them separate MSA's that form the new Dayton-Springfield CSA. I don't know enough about Springfiled and its ties to Dayton to form an opinion on that matter.

The City of Cleveland is a lot bigger then Cincinnati, Cincinnati is not even in the 50 biggest cities in the country anymore. Its estimated that the city of Cincy only has 290,000 people now. Cleveland has 430,000 and Cincy is 2 square miles larger than Cleveland. Also the Cincinnati metro area covers like 15 counties and i think they said Cleveland only covers 5. The whole NE Ohio are has only 13 counties and has 4.6 million people. So, even though the Cincinnati msa will move above Cleveland there if they both covered the same amount the Cleveland msa would more than double the Cincinnati msa.

The "Akron" people and the "Cleveland" people didn't like each other in the company where I worked in Hudson, moreso after it moved there from Twinsburg. Cleveland drivers think THEY merge so much 'better' than Cincy people, although Ohio drivers as a whole lack skill, and Ohio's large cities are merging roads hell everywhere.

The Akron Beacon Journal isn't a serious newspaper, as it doesn't whine enough. Cleveland-Akron are one middle market, headed by one big whiny regional newspaper, the Plain Doper.

I'd tell you how much nicer it is out here in Illinois, but it's a lot safer for me to not expound on that, plus it's really difficult to make all kinds of endless yet pointless (yet endless) debates about cities out here.

Cavaliers as champions of all of Ohio? Pass the Kool-Aid!

... Cleveland has a river, PLUS a lake. Take that.
"but they don't have Skyline Chili" ..................

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